


Parent Talk

by SpyroTF



Series: Better Choices (Vader Lives AU) [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Darth Vader Lives, Darth Vader Redemption, Darth Vader's A+ parenting, F/M, Family, Feels, Gen, Love, Parent Darth Vader, Post-RotJ, Romance, Skywalker Family Feels, he's really trying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:54:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22988206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpyroTF/pseuds/SpyroTF
Summary: Post-ROTJ, Vader lives AU. When Han confronts Vader on the subject of his feelings for Leia, the former Sith doesn’t react the way Han expects him to.
Relationships: Han Solo & Darth Vader, Leia Organa/Han Solo, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Series: Better Choices (Vader Lives AU) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1652098
Comments: 38
Kudos: 390





	Parent Talk

**Author's Note:**

> It’s a fairly common fandom trope that Vader is usually super against Han and Leia’s relationship for one reason or another, so I decided it would be fun to imagine things happen a bit differently :D This is my first Star Wars fic, as well as my first story in English (not my native language), so I apologize in advance for any mistakes. Hope you enjoy it, and please let me know what you think!
> 
> Huge thanks to my beta, ThreadSketchier!

The plan had backfired, Han thought with a sour frown. That much was obvious.

It had been about two weeks since they had managed to retake Coruscant and officially abolish the Empire—which, Han admitted begrudgingly, wouldn’t have been possible without Vader’s involvement. Or rather, it probably wouldn’t have happened nearly as swiftly and peacefully. Of course, there was still a tremendous amount of work required for the New Republic to start functioning at least somewhat properly, so the days became a blur of endless tasks, reports, meetings and other tedious things which sometimes made Han wish to crawl into the _Millennium Falcon_ ’s smuggling compartment and ask Chewbacca to blast off to someplace far, far away, preferably free from any ongoing political entanglements.

Worst of all, Vader still roamed about practically unhindered as if he wasn’t personally responsible for every atrocity that had happened in the galaxy during the last 23 years, including destruction of entire cities, countless deaths and more. Han despised Vader being a nominally free man as much as every other person around him, and his only solace was in knowing that Vader’s amnesty had been stated to be a temporary measure, and that the former Sith would meet his well-deserved end after his eventual trial and execution.

Unfortunately, it didn’t do anything to ease Han’s personal feelings towards Vader. Nothing could, really, until one day an idea suddenly sprang to his mind, connected to the recent Skywalker family revelations. After the initial shock of learning that Vader was Leia’s biological father had passed, Han saw the opportunity it presented.

Han was aware that as much as he despised Vader, the feeling could only be rivaled by Vader’s own disdain for Han, which he had made rather well-known on multiple occasions. To him, Han was nothing more than a bumbling idiot, a disgraceful ex-smuggler, whose involvement in state affairs had obviously been an unfortunate error. Surely Vader wouldn’t put up with the fact that his own daughter, his flesh and blood, had chosen this pathetic excuse for a man as her lover when she rightfully deserved so much more?

And so Han had made it his mission to be as affectionate with Leia as possible, whenever Vader was nearby. Not that it had required a lot of effort on his part, but he still tried to go out of his way to have a moment together. And even Leia, while still being somewhat more reserved simply to her usual businesslike nature, had apparently got in on the plan and didn’t seem to mind when he would unexpectedly pull her closer for another kiss or embrace.

Han (and probably Leia, too) realized they were simply exercising petty revenge—yet he couldn’t really bring himself to care. After all the terrible things that Vader had put them through, he deserved at least _some_ satisfaction, a chance to get back at the former Dark Lord in some way, no matter how stupid or insignificant it might have been. Being forced to work alongside him didn’t mean that Han had to pretend to like him—hell, even barely tolerating Vader took an enormous amount of restraint and self-control. And so Han had been practically looking forward to the moment when Vader would finally lose it and race towards him, telling him that he wouldn’t put up with this ongoing outrage any longer and threatening to personally drag the former smuggler out and straight into the Coruscant underworld, so he would never dare lay his filthy fingers on Leia ever again. And then Han would finally get his chance to tell Vader off. Maybe even throw a few punches if he was lucky.

But, much to Han’s utter confusion, for some reason Vader showed absolutely no interest in Han and Leia’s little interactions.

He knew for sure that Vader noticed them—oftentimes he would look directly at the pair as they shared another tender moment, almost as if he was studying them in some way—and each time Han failed to see or feel any palpable signs of frustration from him.

It wasn’t like the man never got angry anymore—he was still just as prone to quick rage, except its intensity had toned down an infinite amount, and the only victims to his wrath so far were a cracked window, and a broken datapad which he himself had offered to repair afterwards.

Indeed, there were still many things which could make Vader growl in frustration and even lash out at his surroundings.

Yet seeing Han and Leia together was not one of them.

And it frustrated Han to no end.

Right now they had all just gotten out of another big meeting, and before Leia could leave, Han wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her closer to him. The young woman leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on his cheek while he caressed hers with his hand. Giving him a soft smile, Leia turned away and proceeded to make her way down the corridor. Yet Han didn’t follow her, remaining where he stood. Without Leia blocking the view, he could now see the only person still present inside the conference room.

It was Vader, standing just as still and staring at him in absolute silence, save for the hiss of his breathing.

No doubt he had witnessed what just happened—and it appeared as if he wasn’t bothered by it in the slightest, just like all those previous times.

That’s when Han decided that he'd had enough.

He couldn’t understand Vader, couldn’t understand why he was so apathetic towards the whole thing, going against everything Han would have expected him to do. Maybe he'd caught wind of it and was deliberately acting uninterested to turn the situation around and frustrate Han instead. That did sound like a distinct possibility, and would also confirm that even (former) Sith Lords were not above such pettiness. Or maybe he was just that dense when it came to understanding normal human feelings. That was a possibility too.

Either way, Han thought, he was about to get to the bottom of this.

Stepping away from the entrance, he heard the sound of quick, heavy footsteps, echoing closer and closer. A moment later Vader emerged from the room, yet his gait came to a halt as he froze up to prevent himself from bumping into Han at full speed. Nothing was stopping Vader from simply turning to the side and walking around the man like the annoying obstacle he probably saw him to be, yet he remained still, probably sensing Han’s intentions through the Force and knowing that he sought confrontation. Han felt his chest get just a tiny bit heavier, as it always did when he was reminded of the weird powers that people had no business having. He had somewhat gotten used to it with Luke around, but Vader’s looming presence sometimes brought the unpleasant feeling back in full swing, because he was… well, _Vader_.

“General Solo.”

Han Solo definitely wasn’t what one would call a paragon of manners, but even he wasn’t comfortable with the way Vader usually greeted people. He didn’t ever really _greet_ them, he simply… acknowledged their existence. Allowed them to be near him. Well, discourtesy was a game two could play, Han decided as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, eyebrows furrowed. “Alright, what’s the deal here?” he asked, making his discontent as apparent as possible.

“You need to be more specific, General,” said the masked man after a few cycles of mechanized respiration.

Han cocked his eyebrow, feigning surprise. “Do I? Can’t you just read my mind or something?”

“I have no desire to rummage around in the erratic thoughts of a former smuggler,” Vader replied dryly.

“Right, I forgot that’s not your style,” Han drawled, throwing his hands in the air in a mocking gesture of defeat. “Torturing me for information would probably be way more effective.”

His words were immediately followed by the sound of creaking leather, which Han had already learned to expect and recognize. Despite Vader’s cloak somewhat obstructing the view, he knew that the former Dark Lord must have balled his gloved hands into fists.

“Don’t you have more important things to engage in instead of testing my patience, Solo?” Vader growled, finally snapping, which invoked a sense of smug satisfaction in Han. Even though his original plan to get on Vader’s nerves had failed, he supposed he would take what he could. Small victories and all that.

“Listen, you know what I’m talking about,” Han said, a challenge in his voice as he walked up closer to Vader. This forced him to lift his chin up even more in order to meet the lenses of Vader’s mask, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. “Me and Leia. Quit pretending you’re fine with that.”

“Your presumptuousness does not serve you well, Solo,” Vader commented impassively.

Han rolled his eyes at the haughty remark. “She’s like double royalty now,” he scoffed. “Don’t try and tell me you aren’t mad that your dignified princess daughter wound up with a lowly smuggler scum like me.”

He fully expected Vader to get riled up again and start poking at him with his stupid finger—in fact, he was all but counting on it—so he got surprised when the former Sith assumed what he supposed was a more relaxed pose, armored shoulders going just a tiniest bit limp.

“Hardly a more scandalous affair than that between a Jedi general and a former queen.”

Caught off-guard, Han blinked, going over what Vader had just said in his mind. He couldn’t really see the relevance of the statement at first—but then the pieces slowly started falling into place. With the things being so hectic lately, Luke hadn’t really told them who his—and Leia’s—mother was, had he? Maybe he didn’t know himself?.. Or maybe...

Vader wasn’t intent on providing Han with a chance to come up with something to say. Crossing his arms over his chest, he asked, “Do you love her?”

The question ran through Han’s mind like a blaster shot. He stared at the dark figure in front of him, unsure if he had heard the words right. No, he must have heard it correctly—his mind simply struggled to process the fact that it had actually come from Vader.

Vader did not just speak to people about things like _love_. The word sounded plain wrong in his distorted voice—it was absolutely foreign when it came from him, as if taken from some other language. Suddenly Han sensed a wave of pure, raw indignation coming over him, a feeling he didn’t get to experience very often. What could _Vader_ , of all people, know about love anyway? Whatever Luke had told Han about him, however he might have supposedly changed, he still had no right to even _say_ the word!

And yet even more confusion stemmed from the fact that Vader obviously already _knew_ the answer. Even without counting the recent events, he had been right there, in Cloud City, observing Leia and Han’s last moments together before encasing the latter in carbonite. The man scowled, feeling a surge of anger at the memory. It took him a few seconds to calm down and realize that he actually wanted to humor Vader in that moment, his feelings for Leia prevailing.

“I do,” Han said, his voice a bit quieter. “More than anything,” he added in a more pronounced tone, partly to spite Vader, and partly because he found genuine pleasure in reaffirming.

The black-clad man drummed his fingers against his upper arm. “Then I have no objections to your relationship,” he stated, “including your pitiful attempts at provoking me with your excessively overt displays of affection. Cherish the ability to do so without being reprimanded.” Vader tilted his helmet slightly, and suddenly Han could almost feel the older man's eyes pierce through him. “Love is not to be hidden.”

Paying no heed to Han’s dumbfounded expression, the former Sith Lord turned swiftly to the side and strode away, his cloak billowing behind him.

As Han watched the dark figure disappear behind the sliding doors, he ran his hand through his hair and found himself thinking once again that he couldn’t understand Vader. Not that he particularly wanted to, anyway.

But—he realized somewhat pensively—perhaps he was just beginning to understand Anakin Skywalker.


End file.
